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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26318482">The fall of the alliance</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarineSunrise/pseuds/MarineSunrise'>MarineSunrise</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Dark mercenaries short stories, Mild Blood, Other, founding of the dark mercenaries, hard language, past story</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 11:35:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>14,135</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26318482</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarineSunrise/pseuds/MarineSunrise</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The story of how our protagonists' group separated from the Anti-Goliath Alliance and founded the Dark Mercenaries, while facing a powerful enemy and trying to rescue a captive friend.</p><p>The story will have several chapters, so I'll upload tags when I'll upload the rest of the chapters</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. What could go wrong?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>First chapter of the series. You can see the character's appearances here: https://twitter.com/marinesunart/status/1301948261293531136</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“AQUA WHAT THE HELL HAS HAPPENED TO ROSE?”</p><p>      Liam shouted angrily at the mermaid, who was just chilling in the outside pool on her day out. She sighed and looked at the drow.</p><p>“Liam, please, it’s my day out. What do you want”</p><p>“ROSE. WHY IS ROSE GONE? WHERE HAS SHE GONE I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD I NEVER UTTERED AN ORDER AND SHE HAS GONE TO SOME FUCKING EXPEDITION TO KILL SOME FUCKING HIGH-CLASS GOLIATH…”</p><p>“LIAM SHUT UP! Breathe in, breath out, stop shouting and bring me my cocktail closer”</p><p> </p><p>Liam picked the glass vase adorned with a little paper umbrella and a slice of lime and sat down at the border of the pool. He handed her the cocktail and proceeded to get his boots off. He submerged his feet in the cold water and relaxed his breath.</p><p>“Now, Liam, tell me what happened”</p><p>“Rose and I had a sparring session this morning. She was thrilled about trying a new gun that Zeus made specifically for her, and I was going to try some ranged weapons too, so we were going to meet at the firing field at 9 am. I waited until 11, practicing a bit, and then I went to check if her alarm didn’t ring or something and she was still sleeping. I haven’t seen her since yesterday and I can’t help but worry. I’ve talked to Zeus, Garnet, Emilie and Ryo and they haven’t seen her since yesterday afternoon either. The general told me she departed on a mission yesterday evening and the team already came. But she wasn’t scheduled to have any missions yesterday. And the other team has already gone on another expedition and I can’t ask them. You are the one that makes the paperwork here, <b>where</b> did they go?”</p><p>“Yesterday wasn’t the elite team’s expedition to the volcano?”</p><p>“The<em> WHAT</em>?!”</p><p>Aqua moved to the edge of the pool and used her arms to propel herself out of it. She snapped her fingers, making her mermaid tail turn into a pair of legs.</p><p>“Now that you mention it, it is weird that the elite team decided to take Rose to an expedition of that level of danger. Come with me, now”</p><p>Aqua, with a swift flick of the hand transformed her bikini and beach wrap into her receptionist uniform and started walking towards the building.</p><p>“Something clearly smells fishy, Liam, and I’m sure it’s not me”</p><p> </p><p>-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-</p><p>The half-harpy came running at them after Aqua and Liam tried (and failed) to obtain answers about Rose’s whereabouts. She was clearly distressed.</p><p>“Freya, dear, what’s wrong?”</p><p>She was still panting, as if she had run a marathon.</p><p>“I… I can feel her essence here”</p><p>“I don’t think I understand what you are saying, Miss Freya”</p><p>“Liam, <b>quiet</b>. Darling, whose essence?</p><p>“If… Ifrit. It’s Ifrit’s. It’s surely her. Please, make it stop, it hurts”</p><p>“Aqua, what is she talking about and how can I help her?”</p><p>Aqua motioned to them to follow her. Aqua led them to a spare empty conference room and gave a glass of cold water to Freya.</p><p>“Listen Liam, this is important. Remember years ago when we encountered Garuda?”</p><p>“Of course, she was an elusive Goliath. I’ve seen her once but she fled away. Why?”</p><p>“You remember which class of Goliath was she?”</p><p>“Uhm… Titan class?”</p><p>Freya chuckled and answered before Aqua could finish.</p><p>“I’m too strong to be a Titan class, you stupid drow. I am a <b> <em>God</em> </b> class”</p><p>Liam laughed a bit, until it was clear she wasn’t lying.</p><p>“W-wait, are you telling me SHE, your wife...” he gestured towards Freya “Is actually Garuda?”</p><p>“I… am sorry for not being open about it, Liam. I know you will not trust me as much as before, but you can guess the reasons for skipping that.... not so little detail when surrounded by Goliath-slayers…”</p><p>“If you tell this to someone I swear I will take Aqua away from here and destroy this basement in a blink. I only care for her, not for this blood-thirsty wannabe god slayers”</p><p>Liam gulped. Aqua just gestured for them to calm down.</p><p>“Anyways, I’m not here to kill you guys. I’m not an aggressive Goliath, if you haven’t noticed it. I think humans are quite interesting and I tried to live among them. That being said, I’m still a Goliath. And right now, there’s like at least 20 people here charmed by Ifrit.”</p><p>“How… can you tell them apart?” Liam wondered.</p><p>“Their souls reek of ash and coal. And it’s making me sick. Mentally and physical”</p><p>“Wait, but Liam you said the elite squadron was out again on a mission. Freya, does the… “charm” spread?”</p><p>“No, it doesn’t. You need to be in contact with the Goliath to be charmed”</p><p>Liam paused for a moment to think, then spoke again.</p><p>“If you feel 20 charmed, and the elite, who were the ones that went to the volcano are out, I doubt that the elites are the ones charmed. My team is fine too, so who the hell are the charmed ones?”</p><p>“Let’s find it out, even if it means putting my darling in pain”</p><p>“I don’t care if I’m in pain for like a day or two if that means at some point and for some reason it’s gonna stop”</p><p> </p><p>-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-</p><p>“T-there… ugh… that room is full of charmeds”</p><p>Freya pointed at one of the sparring rooms.</p><p>“Are you sure you got the good one?”</p><p>“I’m doubling in pain, what do you think, you long-eared piece of shit?”</p><p>“Freya, honey, you don’t need to get that defensive. Now, what’s the plan, Liam?”</p><p>“Identificate all the charmeds and… well… I need to think of a better plan because right now the plan is to go in and kill everyone. But that’s like the last plan”</p><p>“I… could… I approve that pl.. plan”</p><p>“Freya, Liam. No. We first talk to the superiors about this. Let’s enter and see who are them”</p><p>They took a peek, opening slightly the door.</p><p>“Oh hell, that goes our plan of alerting the supervisors first…” Aqua murmured, not pleased with the sight.</p><p>Most supervisors were the charmed ones. There were a few soldiers too, from another squadron. The three of them would have to come with another plan for sure.</p><p> </p><p>-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-</p><p>“I don’t know what you want, but leave me alone. It’s 6 in the morning, let me sleep”</p><p>The kitsune growled, still in his pajamas. Aqua catched the door just when he was about to slam it closed, and held it in her place.</p><p>“Ryo, listen at least. Besides, I’m one of the secretaries. I can tell you which days <em> he </em> is free in return”</p><p>A sly smile crossed Aqua’s face, while the poor kitsune hid his tail between his legs and his ears dropped.</p><p>“W-why… d-do you think I really care about that scaly idiot? But yes, I may want to know about his free days so I can challenge him in the sparring rooms. Yes. Just for sparring, I have no other reason”</p><p>“Well, if I were you and Freya was Camus, I would surely like to spar with her to see her almost naked body covered in sweat while she pants and…”</p><p>Freya covered his wife’s mouth while Ryo was a bright shade of red. Liam coughed to attract their attention.</p><p>“Please. Let’s return to the topic”</p><p>“Yes, yes, we need to save your girlfriend. We gotcha”</p><p>“Excuse me Miss Freya? I think you are misunderstanding…”</p><p>“DO YOU NEED ME FOR ANYTHING OR I CAN GO THE FUCK BACK TO SLEEP YOU CUNTS?”</p><p>Some “sssh!” could be heard from other rooms. Ryo just sighed and made a motion to wait for him. He changed back to his usual oriental styled clothing and motioned to go outside to talk.</p><p>When they were outside, Liam and Aqua brought him up to date on the situation and tried to brainstorm a plan. Ryo just gestured to them to stop.</p><p>“Listen, if all… almost all supervisors are corrupted, this place is a lost cause to me. We can’t kill goliaths if half of our supervisors are controlled by them. I can either sneak past them and get some info for you and come back OR sneak past them and kill them… hopefully”</p><p>“I’ve seen reports of your missions cause Aqua sometimes falls asleep on them. You can be the best ninja-spy-whatever you are but you are a deadweight when it comes to combat”</p><p>“Well, whoever you are, you bird-brained humanoid, the purpose of stealth is to kill them before combat. I’m not risking having to deal with stronger elite warriors; but everyone is vulnerable when they sleep or they have their guard down”</p><p>Liam was exasperated.</p><p>“I would prefer not fighting. If we leave the Anti-G Alliance, fine for me because Ryo is right, but let’s try not to fuck up our carreers, please?”</p><p>The other three nodded. Liam continued speaking.</p><p>“Ryo, please, obtain as much info as you can without putting you at risk. Aqua and I will reward you however you see fit. Us three will try to act normal but if we have to get the hell out of here, be ready. I’ll talk to my team too”</p><p>“I’ll go then. Talk to you later”</p><p>Ryo bid goodbye and turned invisible in the blink of an eye. Liam stayed a bit more and then they all parted ways.</p><p> </p><p>-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-</p><p>“Liam! I’ve talked to some elite warriors and I have… uh… news”</p><p>“Aqua! Please, sit down and tell me. And next time knock the door before entering, it’s called privacy”</p><p>“Sorry for that, but here me out..”</p><p>Liam served her a steamy cup of drow black tea. Aqua sat down and started telling him the news. Turns out the volcano expedition was delayed due to one of the elite soldiers who was part of the expedition team not feeling well. The elite team left the next day to the volcano. The ones that went the day the expedition was supposed to start were some of the supervisors and soldiers that were to fight a problematic lava Titan-class Goliath closer to the area.</p><p>“Well, I don’t know why they brought Rose with them, maybe because no other… ahem… ‘healer’ was available? Anyways, not all the soldiers from the squadron have returned, and the ones that have were the ones charmed”</p><p>“I can only imagine they went too close to the Goddess Goliath area and got enthralled… or killed. Gods, Aqua, I’ve only fought one God Goliath and it was completely weakened… and most of the army died. How are we going to rescue Rose?”</p><p>“Ryo isn’t going to be really useful unless we’re using a distraction and he tries to rescue Rose by himself. I doubt even I with Neptune’s gem can do anything against a goliath that powerful. She has the advantage of playing at home, in a gigant hot fiery volcano”</p><p>“I doubt Emilie can do much either… even if she goes berserk like on the first mision”</p><p>They both sighed.</p><p>“Liam, I think a distraction plus using Ryo is the best option. Maybe not the best one, but the most likely now. And it’s not like we have too much time...”</p><p>“I’ll talk to Ryo then. I hope you have like a stash of compromising photos of Camus hidden in one of your drawers to blackmail him into doing this or we’re screw”</p><p>Aqua chuckled.</p><p>“Way better, I picked a sweaty shirt. Nothing that closetted pervert would ignore”</p><p>“I don’t remember asking for details. Also, remind me to never pick a fight against you, you probably have blackmail material about everyone”</p><p>Aqua put a finger to his lips, not saying anything, which made Liam shudder more.</p><p> </p><p>-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-</p><p>He talked to Ryo, and as always he refused. Then, mysteriously, two hours later he knocked Liam’s door telling him that he had reconsidered it.</p><p>“I… I’ll do it. Since Rose is important to you and yadda yadda. Just buy me some fireproof uniform and we’re even”</p><p>“Why don’t you ask our dear friends at the technology lab? Zeus sure has some kind of fire-proof fabric and if Camus isn’t too busy he can tailor you a nice vestment”</p><p>Ryo needed some time to process it, went red, nodded and got out of the room.</p><p> </p><p>-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-</p><p>Ryo knocked at the lab door, and it slided open.</p><p>“WHOEVER YOU ARE, JUST COME IN! WE’RE A BIT BUSY BUT WE’LL HEAR WHAT YOU WANT!”</p><p>Zeus had his overalls and parts of his body covered entirely in oil and grease stains, trying to repair some old machine that was spitting oil over the room. Ryo just walked near the walls, trying to avoid staining the uniform. Camus entered the room with half his overalls unzipped and tied around his waist. Only a sweaty tank top was covering his torso.</p><p>“YO, OLD MAN, I CUT THE MAIN POWER SUPPLY FOR THAT PIECE OF JUNK!”</p><p>“YO DIDN’T CUT SHIT YOU LIZARD-BRAINED PIECE OF SHIT! THIS GARBAGE IS STILL SPITTING OIL LIKE A FUCKING LLAMA!”</p><p>“WASN’T IT THE BIG-ASS RED CABLE?”</p><p>“YOU FUCKING UNPLUGGED THE POWER SUPPLY OF <b>MY</b> COFFE BREWER! THIS MACHINE’S THE BLACK AND YELLOW STRIPED CABLE”</p><p>“BUT THAT ONE’S FUCKING TINY! WHY DOES THE BREWER NEED THAT MUCH ELECTRICITY?”</p><p>“FOCUS ON UNPLUGGING THE RIGHT CABLE YOU LAZY MORRON!”</p><p>“YOU COULD LABEL THOSE FUCKING THINGS, YOU KNOW, YOU DISORGANIZED CUNT?!” Camus then took a look to find Ryo covering his ears. “Yo, foxy, sorry I didn’t see you there. I’ll be right with you in a minute, just let me unplug the damn cable”</p><p>“LESS TALKING, MORE UNPLUGGING YOU SCALY SNAIL!”</p><p>“CAN’T I JUST FUCKING GREET A FRIEND, OLD FART? OH WAIT SINCE YOU DON’T HAVE I GUESS YOU CAN’T STAND SEEING TWO FRIENDS HAVING A NICE CHAT!”</p><p>“C-camus please just go and stop shouting, my head is starting to hurt from all the noise…”</p><p>“Sorry foxy! Be right back”</p><p>Camus left, and after a bit, the machine stopped working. The dragonfolk returned and grabbed Ryo by his arm.</p><p>“Let the boss clean that mess, I’ll assist you in my workshop!”</p><p>They walked a bit towards the hangar and then to the workshop area.</p><p>“Well, Ryo, sit down and tell me what you want! I’ll try my best to provide!”</p><p>“Ah, well… about that… I… wanted a… f-fire-proof suit…”</p><p>Camus nodded and started to look around for materials.</p><p>“Mmmmhn lucky you, Zeus gave me some elemental-proof fabrics some time ago, I’ll see if I have them still around here. Also, please undress and let me take your measures, I think you lost a bit of weight since last time! Not that it’s a bad thing, but you could… eat a bit more, ya know? I saw you monday at the pool and you were all bones and skin. Let me treat you someday to a good lunch… oh, your friends from the 13th can also come if they want!”</p><p><em> Ah so it’s not like a date </em>, thought Ryo. He began undressing and tried to act normal while Camus took and wrote his measurements. When it was done, Camus began asking questions about the design.</p><p>“J-just something comfortable, you know my combat style…”</p><p>“Hmmm so no flowy stuff… maybe those types of armor that are like skinsuits?”</p><p>“T-that… isn’t that <em> too </em> revealing?”</p><p>“Well, there’s nothing wrong with them. Yes, you don’t leave much room for imagination but it will serve its purpose. I’ll also add a fire-proof tabi and a… was it called shokozu?”</p><p>“What do you mean? The Shinobi shozoku?”</p><p>“Is that the black ninja clothes?”</p><p>“Yes…”</p><p>“Yes, that one too. So, a skinsuit, a shozoku and a tabi. Hmm it should take me like half a day. I’m not super busy right now, so come back tomorrow afternoon and I’ll give you the pieces!”</p><p>“Thank you, Camus. What do I owe you?”</p><p>“Nothing, I like helping my friends if I am not busy and have the chance! Besides, for a craftsman it’s an honor to see someone wearing their creations!”</p><p>Camus bid Ryo goodbye with a wide smile, and when he left, the dragonfolk started drawing the pattern and searching for the fabrics. He paused and gently brushed his hand over the finished patterns.</p><p>“Ah, what an honor for an artisan to be able to make something to protect a loved one…”</p><p> </p><p>-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-</p><p>Everything was ready. Camus insisted on joining the team when he discovered where the kitsune was going to infiltrate, since the dragonfolk were used to hot places. Emilie had complained about not being able to help Rose when she was needed, but Liam forbade her to follow them. She was to stay and help Aqua if things got out of control in the Anti-G Alliance base. Freya will accompany them to detect Ifrit’s presence. Garnet will guard the entrance of the volcano and check if any alliance warriors were in the area. Liam will participate alongside Freya and Camus in the diversion so Ryo could safely search for Rose.</p><p> </p><p>What could go wrong?</p><p> </p><p>Oh, let me tell you.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong><em>Everything</em> went wrong.</strong>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Entering the goliath’s lair</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The team starts the operation, but will it go as planned?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, Captain Sari, fancy meeting you here!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam saluted the squadron leader trying to look as calm as possible.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, Captain Krowuds. I didn’t know you had a mission here”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, no, no, no, it’s just I wanted to take the team… well, part of them... on a training course!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Next to a volcano?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We want to test some new suit prototypes and Zeus and his unit were too busy, so we agreed to do it in exchange for a pair of new camo uniforms for everyone”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, I see. Good luck with your training, Krowuds”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“See you around, miss Sari!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam greeted her goodbye, and when she was far enough, he finally dropped his façade.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Jesus fucking Christ, that was terrifying”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Something wrong, Liam?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam turned around to face them and adjusted his glasses.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, Camus, I wouldn’t want to fight her, to be honest”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oooh, was </span>
  <em>
    <span>she</span>
  </em>
  <span> that ‘Sari the colossus slayer’?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam just nodded to Camus and kept speaking.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And judging by miss Freya’s reaction, she’s on Ifrit’s side”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yup. Still, she looks like a skinny bony girl incapable of fighting a single minor goliath”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, she’s a lich. She’s supposed to look </span>
  <em>
    <span>bony</span>
  </em>
  <span>“ Camus whispered to Freya.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I bet I still could take that undead bitch with like a tenth of my true strength”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Freya, we’re not here to pick fights. We’re here to rescue Rose and we have </span>
  <b>
    <em>enough</em>
  </b>
  <span> problems to deal with, so I would ask you to </span>
  <b>please</b>
  <span> don’t add more on the pile”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, whatever, </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘leader’</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know you could have just stayed with your wife instead of being a rude bitch”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Watch your mouth, vixen, or I will c-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“YES, ENOUGH FIGHT YOU TWO” Camus separated them, and continued talking “You are both important for this plan, and I don’t want any bad mood ruining the operation. Wouldn’t be the first time someone gets killed because of an internal fight in the team, and I don’t want that to happen to neither of us”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you, Camus. Now, let’s revise the plan together, now that there’s no charmeds around. Camus and Freya, you both try to find and attract Ifrit’s attention. I’ll cover you if things go wrong, otherwise I’ll be patrolling from the entrance to the center of the volcano”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure thing, Liam” Camus gave a thumbs up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Whatever you say, I just want to get this shit done </span>
  <b>quick</b>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Garnet, you will ward the entrance of the cave. Use whatever magicks to distract them. They </span>
  <b>can not</b>
  <span> enter while we’re searching for Rose”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll do my best. You can count on me, Liam”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And finally. Ryo. Listen, you have the far most dangerous and difficult task. We will owe you a big one after this. Take this, should be able to pinpoint Rose’s location based on her aetherical energy”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, you will owe me a big one, but how the hell do you have a Rose detector?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam paused for a moment and cleared his throat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You clearly don’t know Rose well enough to know she will jump to danger at any given opportunity. That device had been really useful in finding her on multiple occasions where she wanders off from the group and falls purposely on a trap just to test it”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ooookay. So, I just follow the sign. If I turn it on now, will it work?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It may fuck around the alliance’s t-link webs, so I would advice not to”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wouldn’t it fuck </span>
  <em>
    <span>ours</span>
  </em>
  <span> too, then?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nope! All the t-link gems I gave you are different from the alliance’s ones”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yup, courtesy of Zeus and company inventions!” Camus motioned to himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If you guys say so… but if the t-link gems break or suddenly stop working, I’m leaving this mess of operation. Anyways, when do we start? It’s already getting dark”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’ll camp on the plains nearby, one of my summonings will act as if we’re still there at night while we go to the volcano. It’s okay, he’s used to acting like multiple humans and won’t do anything shameful nor regratable. Unless he wants to be eaten by N’yhor, that is. When we arrive at the volcano, everyone goes to their spots and pray we’ll succeed”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I thought you had more faith on your comrades, drow”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, Freya, this might be one of the most ridiculous and dangerous plans we’ve ever tried to do. I </span>
  <b>do</b>
  <span> have faith in my team, I even have faith in you, but I’m not going to lie. This is truly dangerous and I hope I don’t have to raise anyone as an intelligent zombie...”</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>      They arrived at the entrance. It was already hot and unpleasant there.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is where we part ways. Remember to contact the rest via t-link gem and escape to the old mines if… well, either if this fails or succeeds, go to the abandoned mines. Good luck everyone”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Garnet stayed there, casting tiny shards of crystals and placing them in the walls, acting both as detectors and tiny bombs. Liam accompanied them to the center until the heat became too much to bear, so he stayed half way behind drawing runes in the floor to summon one of his creatures in order to protect himself from the dangerously rising temperature.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Camus and Freya arrived at the center without any problems. Freya had a protective gale around her and Camus had fully grown his scales in order to cover his entire body and shield him from the heat. Ryo had his heat-proof armor on, including a helmet suited for his ears. Even if it was a bit stifling, it was better than scorching his body. </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, lady Freya…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Cut the formal crap, dragon boy. Freya is enough”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, lad… ehm Freya, is Ifrit near?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Weirdly enough, no. I can’t feel her presence… at least yet”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s… not actually good… I mean, I’m relieved that goliath isn’t nearby, but our duty is to distract it”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Distract </span>
  <em>
    <span>her</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
  <b>We</b>
  <span> goliath are not mere animals nor monsters”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, pardon me”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      There was a long, uncomfortable silence between them. At least, until Camus realized something.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait. You said ‘we’”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Freya paused for a bit before answering.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I thought Liam or Aqua would have told you by now”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“... what...”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, let me re-introduce myself real quick. Hi, name’s Garuda. Yes, the Goddess Goliath of wind. I go by Freya when I’m around humans and I would prefer you to call me by that name. I’m not here to pick fights, just to help my wife out with this mess”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“B-but…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Listen, I’ve never killed a human that wasn’t trying to hunt me down. I don’t take pleasure like the rest in ending your miserable lives, unlike them, I’m busy doing other stuff. So, let’s find Ifrit, kick her hot ass a bit while the fox rescues the chick and </span>
  <b>
    <em>go home</em>
  </b>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“O-okay”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You guys are just too lucky I would do anything for her…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Freya stopped walking and pointed at a fork on the cave that went even deeper.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There. It’s faint but I can feel it. Follow me, and be ready for trouble”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Camus nodded and started talking via t-link.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*“Guys, we found traces of Ifrit’s presence and we’re going in”*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*”Roger that, Camus. Ryo, start searching”*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*”Copy that, Liam”*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fucking useless junk of a detector… I </span>
  <b>knew</b>
  <span> I shouldn’t had agreed on doing this”</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Beep beep. 126 signals detected. Error</b>
</p><p>
  <span>“There’s no fucking way there’s 126 Roses, so give me the correct location stupid brick”</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Beep beep. 157 signals detected. Error</b>
</p><p>
  <span>“What? Is this thing fried because of the heat?”</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Beep beep. 289 signals detected. Error</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Beep beep. 473 signals detected. Error</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Beep beep. 750 signals detected. Error</b>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the…”</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Beep beep. Too many signals detected. Error</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Beep beep. Error</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Beep beep. Error</b>
</p><p>
  <b>Beep beep. Error</b>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>      Ryo smashed the locator against the cave walls.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*”Hey Liam?”*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*”What, Ryo?”*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*”Detector’s broken“*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*”What do you mean ‘detector’s broken’??“*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*”Started saying it detected multiple signatures and I slammed it against a wall cause it wouldn’t shut up“*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*”YOU WHAT??“*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*”Listen, that junk was making a lot of noise that could potentially get me killed, because you can’t be stealthy if you have something that goes ‘beep beep error’ </span>
    <b>every five fucking seconds</b>
    <span>! I’ll try to manually search for Rose instead of using that crap“*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*”Whatever then, but that will make the search longer… and we may not have time“*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*”Rose’s probably alive, since there was at least signals“*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*”... sigh.... alright, but try to be quick“*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*”Sure, sure. I’ll contact you again if I have news. Ryo out“*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>      Ryo let out a long sigh and shaked his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Well, I hope this stupid task doesn’t take me ages… invisibility isn’t exactly permanent...”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>      With a quick swift hand movement, he turned invisible and started running through the cave corridors.</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh shit… I don’t think this is good…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nope, I doubt it, dragon boy”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Before them there was a huge flaming chrysalis about 5 metres tall and 2 metres wide. It glowed with a pulsating warm light, almost like a heartbeat, making a blurry shadow visible on the inside. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We need to get the fuck outta here, kid. Like, </span>
  <b>now</b>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But we haven’t found Rose yet…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <b>Listen</b>
  <span>. If that thing opens, we’re all screwed. Do you know what will happen if both of us witness the rebirth of a goliath?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah… no?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You will become an enthralled slave. Even I might become one. We need to either try to destroy… no, no, it’s too risky…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But we may be able to do something?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>*”Hey, everyone can hear me? Answer right now, it’s really important”*</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*”Garnet here. Everything’s fine where I am”*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*”Ryo here, haven’t found Rose yet”*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*”Liam here, did something happen?”*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*”Camus and I are here and we’ve discovered something bad. Like, really really bad. We need to get out of here, Ifrit is being reborn”*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*”What does that mean Freya? I need to know if it’s important enough to cancel the operation”*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*”Well, drow, if you think getting us all charmed by the rebirth of a fucking almost demigoddess isn’t enough to cancel this fuckery, I don’t know what will be”*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*”Shit… does it look like it could happen like… any minute now?”*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*”Dunno, depends on the energy source she’s obtaining the energy from. I know she might have killed a few soldiers, but it won’t be enough to put her onto rebirth mode”*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*”G-guys? What if she was being powered by some sort of half-monster?”*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam started speaking while walking to Garnet’s position.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*”Well, Ryo, a half monster like a half-orc isn’t that powerful in terms of magic energy. A half-dragon like Camus could be more powerful. Still, I doubt a half-monster could suffice to...”*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*”W-What about a ton of half-demons or half-devils?”*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*”Well… they are certainly more powerful...”*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*”Ahahaha… that’s… yeah… hah...”*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*”Ryo, you don’t sound well”*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*”It’s… okay… Garnet… uhm... Liam?”*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*”Yes?”*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*”I found Rose...”*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*”</span>
    <b>YOU DID</b>
    <span>? That’s wonderful! Good job, I knew you could do it! Thank you, thank you so much”*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*”Don’t thank me yet. We may have a liiiiiittle problem...”*</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Awakening</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Will they go out in time now that they have found Rose? Or will something else happen?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>    Ryo stood in front of a room with 50, maybe more, either unconscious or dead half-demons and devils hung with incandescent chains to the walls, with more chains piercing their bodies. Those chains glowed in a blood crimson light, and came out of all the bodies to end up tied to the handle of a giant, 5 metres long, glowing sword with bright orange ancient runes stuck in the ground. Rose was on the other side of the room, with the uniform torn, with a lot of severe wounds and multiple chains coming out from her body. She looked too pale and malnourished.</p><p>    Ryo approached her with caution. The chains were too strong to break them, and it didn’t look as if they were made of over-heated metal (which wouldn’t be <em> that </em> hard to break) but fire magic condensed.</p><p>
  <em> *”Camus? Could you perhaps help me with something? I may need brute force right now”* </em>
</p><p>
  <em> *”Eh… I’ll try? But I don’t know where you are, could you perhaps try to guide me?”* </em>
</p><p>
  <em> *”I… don’t think I may be able to do that...”* </em>
</p><p>
  <em> *”Then… maybe try doing it yourself? I believe in you!”* </em>
</p><p><em> *”Can’t you… sigh, okay, I’ll try at least… you will owe me a big one for </em> <b> <em>all</em> </b> <em> of this”* </em></p><p>    Ryo cut the t-link connection for a bit.</p><p>“Stupid Camus. Believing in me won’t actually give me super strength, you absolute donkey disguised as a dragon...”</p><p>    Ryo sighed again. He brought his hand closer, feeling the heat coming from the chain. His ears trembled in fear inside the suit.</p><p>
  <em> *”I… really don’t think I can do this. It’s too hot, my hands are going to burn before-”* </em>
</p><p>
  <em> *”Please, Ryo. Please, do it, I’ll heal you later, I promise. I… don’t think this is reassuring, but I can restore lost li-… nevermind, just… I’ll take care of you. I’ll even nurse you and you can order me around as you please while you recover! But please, will you do it? For m-… the team?”* </em>
</p><p>
  <em> *”I really hate you all and the things you make me do”* </em>
</p><p>
  <em> *”Sorry foxy...”* </em>
</p><p>
  <em> *”Shut up. Just… leave me alone for a bit”* </em>
</p><p>    Ryo moved closer to the chains and tried to mentalize himself. Biting his lower lip, he grabbed quickly the chains together, already feeling the skin of his hands being burnt, and ripped the chains off the wall. Well, they weren’t that hard to rip from the wall… at least? His shoulders hurt, his hands hurt too, but he managed to do it. He didn’t want to look at his wounded hands. He would probably cry and he didn’t have the time to do it.</p><p>“Well, at least you won’t have problems with me doing this…”</p><p>    Ryo grabbed the chains again and tore them from Rose’s body. Blood poured from the holes but the hemorrhage stopped after just half a minute.</p><p>“You lucky bitch… I want fast regeneration too… anyways, let’s get you out of here…”</p><p>    The kitsune carried Rose on his back and started running for the exit.</p><p> </p><p>-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-</p><p>“Do you… think they will be okay?”</p><p>    Aqua closed her book and looked at Emilie, who was on the verge of tears when she asked that. Aqua put on a smile and stroked Emilie’s back in a reassuring gesture.</p><p>“Sweetheart, it’s okay. It’s risky, but remember they are strong. They will get through this”</p><p>    Aqua started petting Emilie’s head while holding her close.</p><p>“I… don’t know why the rest told me that you’re scary… <em> sniff </em>… you’re really nice and you’re making me feel better even if we don’t know each other really well…”</p><p>“... Liam told you I was scary? I’ll… talk to him later”</p><p>“<em> Sniff </em>… can you hug me a bit more?”</p><p>“Of course dear, of course. Cry if you want too, just-”</p><p>“<b>WARNING! ALL UNITS READY FOR COMBAT, SEVERAL LEVEL 7 THREAD HAVE ENTERED THE BASE</b>”</p><p>“Wh-what…?”</p><p>“Suit up, Emilie. We’ve got something to do now”</p><p>“But… shouldn’t we had seen titans coming from far away? Like, Zeus told me they had a super complex detection radar”</p><p>“Yes, and we also had a goddess goliath here without the alarm ringing” Aqua looked at a really confused and scared Emilie “Ehm… about that... well, don’t worry about that… What <b>you</b> should worry about it’s the presence of charmed officers who could potentially sabotage the base, got it?”</p><p>“Uh… yes?”</p><p>“Good girl, now let’s take our weapons and face whatever mess is the base now”</p><p> </p><p>-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.</p><p>    Camus sat on the hot floor. If he wasn’t so stressed, he would have thought it felt a bit nice. The giant cocoon-like structure glowed ominously in front of them. Freya was trying to see if she could find something like a seal or an indicator of when she will be reborn, but she didn’t find it yet.</p><p>“Fucking god, I wish this stupid thing had a clock like the drow’s weird big tubes”</p><p>“You mean the healing pods? Yeah, I wish it was as easy as using those”</p><p>    Freya looked at him, wondering what to do. She walked in circles around the room, trying to think of something.</p><p>“Maybe I can try creating shields so even if it explodes, at least we won’t get that hurt”</p><p>“What we need is to get out of here, honestly. Ryo is wounded probably, carrying Rose somewhere. But… I don’t want to risk this thing exploding and turning everyone into a mindless puppet”</p><p>“Lizard boy, if the fox has the girl, the mission's over. I know you are a good person and want to help <b>every-</b> <b> <em>fucking</em> </b> <b>-one</b>, but sometimes you need to choose. I’ll shield this thingy and you get out. I’ll follow you after I’m done”</p><p>“I am not leaving you here alone”</p><p>“Because Aqua would <em> murder </em> you in your sleep?”</p><p>“Because you’re part of the family. Team! Sorry, I meant team”</p><p>“You really are stupid, you know?” Freya laughed, looked at the cocoon and sighed. “Let’s be near the exit and I’ll cast the protections”</p><p> </p><p>-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.</p><p>“AQUA THERE’S MORE HERE! I NEED HELP”</p><p>“Tiamat’s tits Emilie, run faster! We can’t take them all!”</p><p>    Aqua took Emilie’s hand and started running faster, even if Emilie could barely keep up the pace.</p><p>“Wait…. haa… Miss Aqua… I… can’t… my lungs are burning”</p><p>“Goddess fucking love, do you at least have some spare mana?”</p><p>“I… think… so?”</p><p>“Freeze a bit of this, then”</p><p>    Aqua pointed her trident to the end of the corridor and created a path of water. Emilie tried to freeze some, resulting in a small ice platform. Aqua took Emilie and jumped on the platform, making the water move it at a high speed and losing sight of the monsters. They ended up falling to the exterior wall of the fortress, where they slided until the ice melted.</p><p>“Okay, I think we have some time now that we put  some distance between us and them”</p><p>“W-what’s the plan now? Maybe there’s people that still can be sav-”</p><p>“<b>Emilie</b>. We are not going back to that hellish nightmare. You have almost no mana and even if I could fight a lot of them it’s not worth it. We need to get to a safe place and contact Liam and the others”</p><p>“So, if we regroup do you think we can try to save the rest?”</p><p>    Emilie looked at her with pleading eyes. Aqua put a hand on her face and took a deep breath.</p><p>“Emilie, I’m going to be really honest with you. Most of them will either be dead or charmed by the time we meet with Liam’s group. It’s time for you to learn that not everyone can be saved. Would you rather live another day or die so <em> maybe </em> , just <b> <em>maybe</em> </b>, someone lives another day?”</p><p>    Emilie went silent. Her head was spinning with thoughts, making her feel drowsy. Memories of her clan were mixing up with thoughts of worry for her friends and the people that were left in the base. Aqua put a hand on Emilie’s shoulder.</p><p>“It's okay. What you should only think now is where do we go now. It needs to be a safe place that at least Liam knows, so he can find us”</p><p>    Emilie’s eyes widened.</p><p>“<b>Oh</b>. I know a place. But it’s not pretty at all. Well, the top part is, the basement... not so much...”</p><p>“Will we be safe and Liam can find us?”</p><p>“Y-yes. But he may get mad because I went there with someone”</p><p>“This is an emergency, I’m sure he’ll understand. Can you guide me then?”</p><p>“Uhm… yeah. It’s a bit far tho, so we might not get there before sun sets”</p><p>“We’ll keep walking at night unless your legs are too tired. Let’s go”</p><p> </p><p>-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.</p><p>    Ryo kept running to the exit. The earth was rumbling below him, and he certainly didn’t want to find the reason why. Rose was a bit heavy and he needed to adjust her legs each time they fell from his back. The heat was already noticeable, even if he was in the upper area. The first person he ran into was Liam, who immediately took Rose from his back and started carrying her.</p><p>“The hell happened to your hands, Ryo? Those are some awful second-degree burns”</p><p>“Will... tell later, now let’s get out of here, I just want to go back to my room and sleep for 5 days”</p><p>
  <em> *”Garnet! You there? How’s the situation at the entrance?”* </em>
</p><p>
  <em> *”No one around, it’s all clear. Are you coming? Did you find Rose?”* </em>
</p><p>
  <em> *”Yes, we have her! Tell Camus and Freya we’re leaving”* </em>
</p><p>    Garnet glanced again at the entrance. Not a soul there, perfect.</p><p>
  <em> *”Camus? This is Garnet. We got Rose and we are leaving”* </em>
</p><p>
  <em> *”We may have a problem here, but we’ll be there soon! Tell the others, signal is cutting a bit”* </em>
</p><p>    Camus looked down at Freya. When she tried to shield the cocoon, the energy of the spell was reflected and made the volcano start to shake. Some rocks fell from the ceiling to Freya, damaging one of her legs and her wings. Camus tried moving the rocks, eventually releasing the poor woman. He touched the wounds, mending them with holy energy.</p><p>“Kid, we need to get moving, look at the damned thing”</p><p>    The cocoon was cracking, releasing hot steam and small drips of magma. They started running, which proved difficult due to the tremors. Freya was unable to fly due to the passageways of the caves not being big enough, so they had to take the walk to the exit. Just when they could see Liam and the rest waving them to come closer, Camus felt an unbearable heat emanating from deep down below. He threw Freya near the others and raised his shield.</p><p>
  <b>“SACRED VELUM!”</b>
</p><p>    A giant dome made of golden scales of light with bright floating runes emerged from the shield and extended in order to protect the group. The volcano erupted, fragments of stone flying and crushing the earth, air turned into fire.</p><p>    The shield of light was cracking, threatening to break, even if Camus was using all his mana to power it. Liam knew that he needed to think fast, or else this would end up really bad. So he thought fast.</p><p>
  <b> <em>                                                              “Gate”</em> </b>
</p><p>    He whispered.</p><p> </p><p>-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.</p><p>“<b>Wow</b>, I didn’t know Liam would have such collections of…”</p><p>“Miss Aqua, please! Don’t touch anything! Everything here is incredibly dangerous, and Liam will kill me if he sees fingerprints on the glass”</p><p>    The two girls roamed the basement. Liam had bought who knows how many years ago a plot to build a small house that eventually turned into a holiday house with a secret research lab as a hidden basement. Emilie discovered the real basement one time the group was staying at the house for summer, and since then she has been working with him from time to time in some experiments.</p><p>    A small glowy sky blue and white slime approached her and rubbed its body against Emilie’s feet.</p><p>“Aaaaaw, mister Frosty, you missed me. Did you make sure everything is clean down here?”</p><p>    The slime seemed to nod  to her. Aqua got close and poked the little monster.</p><p>“Do you have a slime as a pet??”</p><p>“Ah! It’s okay, he’s really smart and he cleans the basement when neither Liam nor I are here! He’s tamed so please don’t hurt him!!”</p><p>    Emilie hugged the slime tightly and away from the mermaid.</p><p>“You know what, I’ve seen what Liam has and this isn’t the worst thing I’ve seen today. So keep your squishy cutie, I’m only judging Liam here”</p><p>    Some alarm beeped and the girls ran to check what it was. From the screening devices Liam had, Emilie spotted the whole group outside the house and went to check how they were.</p><p>“I knew it was a good idea to come here! Miss Aqua, help me, some are hurt!”</p><p>    Aqua approached the group, helping Emilie carry them to the living room, where she started tending the wounds. Camus opened his eyes, finding himself in an unfamiliar room and with his whole body covered in burns and bruises.</p><p>“Liam, just what the hell did happen to the poor Camus? Not to mention Ryo. Also, Rose seems to be unconscious and I can’t wake her up”</p><p>“A lot, Aqua, a lot. Just… please, heal Camus and Ryo, Emilie and I will take Rose to the lab to make a checkout”</p><p>“I still would want a fully detailed story of what happened when you aren’t busy”</p><p>“Yes, yes, I promise. Also, you would need to tell me why the fuck you are here”</p><p>“I’ll let Emilie tell you”</p><p>    Liam nodded and between him and Emilie, they moved Rose to the lab infirmary. While Liam started running tests on Rose, Emilie explained what happened to the base.</p><p>“... and that’s why we came here. It’s okay, Aqua hasn’t touched anything and every specimen is in their chamber. I checked <b>thrice</b>”</p><p>“So, we can’t go back to the base and the Alliance is pretty much dead, charmed or missing in action. Hmmm… we might as well think the field operators that would try to recover the base would get infected too… yeah, I don’t think the Alliance is functional anymore”</p><p>“But… it was the main shield against Goliaths!”</p><p>“Still, it’s not as if there weren't smaller shields. We’ll be okay, Emilie. Breath in, breath out, and let me keep testing Rose. Because one terrible thought crossed my mind and the last thing I want to happen is for the worst to come true”</p><p>“Okay, sorry. I’m probably stressing you more than you already are. Afterall, you were the one closer to Rose…”</p><p>“I… think we were all close. Rose was really friendly with everyone”</p><p>“Nu-uh. She was friendly with Garnet and me, nice to others and was super super friendly to you. I’ve never seen Rose contradict you, disobeying one of your direct orders or in general being against you”</p><p>“Because she’s<em> weird </em> like that, <b>okay</b> ?! She… follows me <b>everywhere</b> , wants to hang around with me <b> always</b> and just tries <b> so hard</b> to please me sometimes it’s just <em> annoying </em> ! I already told her I’m not interested in anything and she just keeps coming back again and <b>again and AGAIN</b>. DOES SHE EVEN UNDERSTAND THAT I DON’T WANT TO HAVE ANY KIND OF FEELINGS WHEN SHE’S AROUND??”</p><p>“Sheesh, calm down, Liam”</p><p>“I just… I just… you know, I don’t want to get attached to her in any way, not even as friends, because in the times we’re living, one day you are fine and the other you are either dead or charmed. I don’t want to lose friends again, I don’t want to think about the family I left behind and I surely don’t want to think about <em>even</em> <b><em>starting</em></b> to like someone. Because even if Rose is strong, that’s what I’m more afraid of. Maybe she won’t die to the claws of a goliath, but what if she gets charmed?? I wouldn’t be able to… to…” Liam started panting  a little and his vision started to become blurrier “What if I have to… take her out… I… I can’t imagine myself doing that. Like, <b>me</b>, the guy that doesn’t have problems in killing fucking EVERYTHING, the guy that experiments with everything including humans, that has little to no care for soldiers outside of my inner circle of people I know, the guy that blew up an entire magic academy just so he could take revenge on everyone that had fucked me up for the whole academy period...”</p><p>    Emilie hugged Liam tightly.</p><p>“Sssh. If that happens, let me handle it. I’ll trap Rose in ice to keep her alive until we find a cure for her. But let’s not think of that, okay? I don’t want that to happen either. Let’s go back to the medical stuff, okay?”</p><p>    Liam cleaned his glasses and put them back again.</p><p>“Okay, let’s find why the fuck this dumbass isn’t woken up yet”</p><p>“That’s… more or less the spirit!”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Altair</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Last chapter of this saga!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>Chapter 4: Altair</b>
</p><p>
  <span>“THIS IS NOT FINE! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO BE FINE?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“LIAM JUST CALM DOWN! Calm down okay? Just… tell me what happened and we’ll try to find a solution to the problem”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam knocked from the table the thousands of papers with notes he had been writing for the past month and punched the table. Emilie tried to hold him from knocking over a shelf full of vials, preventing him from disarraying the lab even further.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please, Liam! Just stop trying to break everything just because you're pissed off!! You’re not a cat!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam sat down on the floor and took off his glasses to rub his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I just can’t do it anymore. A whole month searching for what happened to Rose and I still can’t find </span>
  <b>anything</b>
  <span>. The closest thing to what it could be from the symptoms would be an aetherial coma, due to excessive loss of mana. But if it was that, she would have already woken up! AND SHE FUCKING HASN’T!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Didn’t you say that Rose had a</span>
  <em>
    <span> big pool of mana closer to an ocean</span>
  </em>
  <span> or something like that? Maybe it just needs more time! I tried restoring her mana with some aether crystals and by transfusion, but I just kept ending up tired using last one”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I thank you for your efforts, Emilie, but it’s just… it has been too long I may… I don’t want to give up, but at this rate it would be better to put her in a cryo-chamber until we find some clues… God, I think I’m starting to miss her being 24/7 around me”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, now you are 24/7 with her!” Liam glared at Emilie “Ah… not in the mood for jokes…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, Emilie, no. Can you bring me some more coffee? I want to try to re-read the books so maybe I find something I had missed the first time I read them”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You… really should try to sleep. When was the last time you slept in a bed?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam took some time to think of an answer, which Emilie interpreted as </span>
  <em>
    <span>too long ago</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your eyebags are like thrice as big as usual and you won’t get any progress if you can’t think straight. So no, I’m not making you coffee. Go to sleep. In a bed, not in the medical table or anywhere in the lab”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re not my mom, let me…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Emilie waved her hand in circles around him and quietly whispered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Major sleep”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam fell to the floor, fast asleep. Emilie picked him up and proceeded to take him to his bedroom. She thought it was nice to have learnt that spell in the magic academy and that Liam wasn’t so defensive around her, so the spell worked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Upstairs, Camus was arguing with Zeus. Ryo was sitting in a corner of the living room, cleaning his daggers, and trying to ignore them. Aqua and Garnet were in the kitchen, preparing the next meal while Freya flew around the house to watch out for enemies.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Listen, old man, just because Liam let you stay here doesn’t mean we’re gonna raid the old base and get every fucking machine you owned just so you don’t need to build the workshop from scratch”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Liam said it was fine to raid the base and loot everything we could! So stop trying to stop me, Camus. Nobody said you needed to come, so stay here with your tail between your legs as the scaly coward you sometimes are!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not the coward! You are the one who’s trying to send everyone to fetch your things instead of going for them yourself!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Emilie opened the basement door and looked at what mess was the living room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can you guys keep your voices down? I finally got Liam to sleep and don’t want him to wake up”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      They stopped for a bit, then continued with the argument in a quieter voice. Emilie rolled her eyes and just focused on bringing Liam upstairs. Aqua came back from the kitchen to scold them too, and threatened to make them sleep the night outside if they didn’t stop fighting. Emilie came back to the living room and sat down in one of the sofas next to Zeus.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, little girl” Started speaking Zeus “Did the chief leave you any instructions? Cause the only thing we’ve done so far is live like nothing has ever happened as if we were 5 different families living the sweet life in the same house”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Zeus proceeded to try to light a cigarette, which made Emilie put out the fire by squeezing the burning end and freezing it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No smoking in the house. It’s not only Liam he hates the smell they leave. Also, it’s bad for your health”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“Kiddo, we’re all dying of something one day. Let me just enjoy one of the good things I like that could potentially kill me”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Outside. Or don’t”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Zeus threw the now frozen cigarette to the chimney.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is worse than when I was in the fucking army. You all have no chill”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then leave if you don’t want to be here, no one is keeping you hostage. And about the plan, he just wants to do what we did in the Alliance but as… individually. Like, a small group”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Camus lay down on the sofa and just sighed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But we’re 9 nobodies. The Alliance was well known all over the continent, meanwhile us are like… maybe some people we’ve saved know </span>
  <b>you</b>
  <span>, but Zeus and I haven’t seen much battlefield”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay, Camus. Plus, Garnet told me you did amazing back there when you shielded everyone!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Still… not used to doing real battles. Of course I can train and defeat people, but I haven’t experienced as much live-or-die combat as you or the rest”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Talk for yourself, Camus. This arm wasn’t ripped off because I caught my arm with the shredder”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Excuse me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait what?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“W-what?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Zeus looked at some very confused Ryo, Camus and Emilie. He motioned to his robotic prosthesis that replaced his right arm until the bottom half part of the upper region.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This. Did you seriously thought I lost it because of a dumb reason?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“W-well, I’ve barely seen you, so it’s not like I had a lot of opportunities of asking”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I know, Emilie, but I honestly expected better from this two”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Ryo pointed at himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s not like I care a lot about you nor the workshop. I don’t care if a bear tore your arm off or if you cut it yourself”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, love you too, lil fox”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, Zeus, I just assumed it was something you didn’t want to talk about…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nice as always, Camus. But really, haven’t you got any theories or something?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“N-no.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Haaa… just… it’s a long story, but if I had to shorten it, let’s just say I was a soldier before going full engineer way”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Emilie was pretty impressed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, never would have thought you were a soldier… I mean, you were always in the workshop, so I just assumed you were an engineer. Even if you were…” Emilie gestured at Zeus’ body “more bulkier”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not sure if you’re calling me fat or strong… I hope it’s the first one. But yes, your trusty </span>
  <em>
    <span>bulky </span>
  </em>
  <span>engineer was a soldier once”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I honestly can’t imagine you holding a sword or a spear”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ryo! Don’t be rude”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nah, Em, it’s true. I can’t imagine him wielding them neither”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“C’mon, Camus. Neither you look like a paladin and hey, you are. Plus, it wasn’t swords or spears that I wielded. Afterall… I come from the Lunya Empire”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Silence flooded the room, broken by the sound of a glass shattering on the kitchen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What did you say, Zeus?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Aqua looked terrified, and so did the rest of the group. Ryo was trembling a bit, fear creeping into his skin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Listen, I’m probably on search and seizure or worse there now, so it’s okay. Not like I was ever a loyal dog of the empire. I know Lunya has done a lot of bad decisions here-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“BAD DECISIONS? Do you think burning villages, enslaving people and conquering everything on their path while ruining every non-lunyans lifes are bad decisions?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A-Aqua, I never said everything they made was okay! In fact, I was treated badly so please, don’t speak as if I condone their actions. I’m not a pure blood lunyan, I’m a fucking storm child. I </span>
  <b>do</b>
  <span> know what they do to the people that won’t follow their orders blindly”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Aqua still looked at him as if he was a monster. The rest tried to at least listen to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Listen, my people were enslaved too. It was in fact one of the first ones. We were used as power batteries until our bodies couldn’t move anymore and then we were killed or thrown into the Coliseum. I was lucky I found a scientist that didn’t want to vivisect me and actually took me under his wing. Then, war against Valseiya happened and we were all </span>
  <em>
    <span>politely recruited </span>
  </em>
  <span>to join the ranks of the army. Lost my arm there trying to save one of my friends from being eaten by some kind of technomagical beast. You say Lunya Empire is fucking bad, but you should see some of the monsters and goliaths Valseiya had. I’m not saying we were the good guys, but I haven’t done anything wrong and if I did, it was following orders to save my skin meanwhile trying to soften that order. I haven’t burnt any villages with people inside, I haven’t raped anyone, I made some people look dead so they could escape later when no guard was looking, I had sabotaged with some help from others that thought the same as me deadly weapon projects that could had blow up an entire region and still have energy to blow another one in less than a day. So I’m sorry for whatever you all went through because of the lunyans, but don’t look at me as if I was one of them”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Everyone went quiet. At least Liam could sleep well now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam woke up in the middle of the night, feeling dizzy from how long he had slept. He put on his lab coat again and walked downstairs. He put his hand on the doorknob of the basement door and stayed there for a while, not opening the door. He was contemplating head down and have an intense reading session, or leave it for later and just go outside and breathe some fresh air. He walked towards the door and headed outside.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      The stars shine bright in the dark, moon-less night sky. He wandered for some time until he found the small pond next to the house where Rose and him spent some time whenever they were in the house at holidays. The stars were reflected on the calm water, twinkling.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I forgot about this place… even if I had good memories of it…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      He approached the pond, removed his shoes and socks, rolled up his pants and dipped his feet in the water. The reflection of the stars became blurrier, and so did his vision.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry Rose. I’m sorry. I can’t find what’s the problem. Why don't you wake up. I always thought I was really smart and would overcome every problem that I had without even sweating. But I can’t. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have ignored you. I should have paid attention to what orders you were given and where you were being sent to…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      He clutched his shirt with one hand, while the other made a poor attempt at hiding that he was crying.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fucking hell. This hurts a lot. I thought if I kept the distance it wouldn’t hurt as much. God, how wrong and naive I was for thinking that if I acted as I didn’t care about anyone it wouldn’t happen again. I want to see you again, I don’t mind you following me around, I don’t mind your horny comments every five seconds, I don’t mind you coming back from practice needing to have your uniform mend again because you went overboard and used your blood powers, I don’t mind you stabbing yourself in battle with anything you find if we don’t pay attention to you so you can try to save us by taking your body to the limit and more… I just want to see your smile every morning when you bring me a hot cup of coffee, I want to see how happy you are whenever I make the smallest compliment to you. I want to come here with you again, so you can show me again how much you like the stars. I… can’t believe I want… I </span>
  <b>need</b>
  <span> to see you again. Please, wake up. I want to go stargazing with you here again…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam’s mind drifted to that long time ago when they weren’t yet in the Alliance, and were just wandering mercenaries in search for any job that could give them money. They were lying on the forest soil, already in their bedrolls. The fire burnt calmly, giving them warmth, but still letting them see the beautiful night sky.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s Deneb, Altair and Vega! It’s the Summer triangle!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wow, you actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>know</span>
  </em>
  <span> something about astronomy, Rose”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I told you! Geez, you never believe in me when I tell you I know about something”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You act like a mindless doll sometimes, throwing yourself in danger, so I think it’s fair I think you kinda are dumb”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, there’s a lot of things I like and I know a lot of! For example…” Rose rummaged through her backpack “I can teach you how to make really cool knots!!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam looked at her with narrowed eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So you can have a really good time being tied up? Thanks for the offer but no, Rose”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ahem, even if I may or may not had enjoyed a nice </span>
  <em>
    <span>bonding</span>
  </em>
  <span> session with you, Liam, I was just going to show them to you like this” She did a small simple knot on the rope and pointed at it “Afterall, they are useful if we are tasked to capture something or someone”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t need to learn about them, I have this”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam pointed his open palm to Rose, making bright purple chains appear from the ground and pin her down. Liam dispelled the spell once he saw the </span>
  <em>
    <span>way too happy</span>
  </em>
  <span> look Rose had in her face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh my God Rose, you could at least have some decency. Didn’t your parents teach you some manners?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rose didn’t answer, which was really weird. Rose never shut up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Rose?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“...”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam sat up a bit even though he was still in the bedroll.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Rose, what’s wrong?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You… know I’m not human right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course I know. No human ever could do what you do sometimes”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I… would you hate me if I was like a monster or something really bad?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Rose, look at me. I might come from a noble family, but I’m still a drow. If I hated you for secretly being… don’t know, an orc for example, I would be like the rest. I’m not going to hate you, even if you tell me your father was an aberration.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, my father was a human adventurer…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nice. So mixed blood, right? It’s okay, y-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“... who was trapped in the abyss because of his </span>
  <em>
    <span>fellow </span>
  </em>
  <span>adventurers”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“... the Abyss? The demon plane?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rose nodded. She hid a bit under her bedroll.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So… you’re a half demon?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“...”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s…” Rose hid completely before Liam could finish the sentence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam got out of the bedroll and approached her at a calm pace.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Rose, you don’t need to hide. What I was going to say it’s that it’s actually pretty… amazing. I didn’t even know humans and demons could have offspring. I mean, I know devils can, there are tieflings, duh. But you look reaaally human.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam ruffled Rose’s orange hair in a comforting way.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You aren’t mad?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why would I be? If something has changed I would say it has been for the better. Afterall, you’re somewhat exotic, we could say. And I like abnormal and exotic things”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“... thank you”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Rose tackled him to the ground in a big hug.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey! Okay, okay, you can stop now… no, seriously, I can’t breath…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“AH, SORRY, SORRY!!” Rose stopped hugging him but still stayed on top of him “It’s the first time someone tells me I’m basically interesting and fuck, it’s </span>
  <b>you</b>
  <span> who complimented me!!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam sighed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, my fault for telling you nice things. Won’t tell you more”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“NO! Please do!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam laughed a bit, and Rose joined.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Still, Rose, what is a half-demon like you doing here? I mean wandering all over the world and not… well, in your home”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I… can’t call home what was my home anymore…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Care to explain?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you mind staying awake for a long time?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I would probably do it even if you weren’t talking”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then, prepare for a nice storytelling time!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam chuckled at how happy Rose was. He moved his bedroll near her and started to listen to Rose. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Rose couldn’t take it anymore. Dad died a long time ago, when Rose was 10, he was a human after all. Mom died 5 years ago when Rose was 82, still a young half-demon, due to a cursed plague that an adventurer who entered the Abyss brought. She now lived with her sister, Angelica, who was 50 years older than her. Angelica treated her like a personal maid, making Rose do all the chores and barely giving her free time. She beat Rose whenever she was angry or Rose did something wrong or not as she liked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Rose wanted to escape the Abyss. She wanted to see the human world, which she could only portray by the thousands of stories her father told her. She wanted to see the flowing waters of the rivers, bathe in the sea, eat everything new she could like those berries her father kept talking about. She wanted to see the cute animals and the scary ones. She wanted to see all the different people and learn their tongues, she wanted to make friends that wouldn’t try to kill her every chance they could. She wanted to become an adventurer, just like her father (minus the fact that he got trapped here), and fight monsters, save princesses, find good friends who will be at her side and maybe even someone to love. She wanted to protect people from bad guys and monsters, and then eat a thank-you feast from the people she saved.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      But what she wanted to see most was the sky. Here in the Abyss, the sky was grey at day and black at night, with the only passing presence of some clouds. There was no sun, there were no stars. And Rose wanted to see the bright orbs contrasting with the night sky.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      So, she waited. She waited 150 years for someone to open a portal in her village nearby so she could sneak off. So, she took all of her most important things in a backpack, food for who knows how much time in her pocket dimension pouch and left. She ran as fast as her legs let her, away from the Abyss, away from the portal. When her legs gave up, she laid on the ground, panting, trying to regain her breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Then, she saw it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>      The night sky.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>      Thousands of little twinkling lights aligned in their special ways, shining bright in the night sky. Like lights to welcome her into this world.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>      She saw 3 stars that shone more brightly, and she remembered something her father told her who knows how many years ago...</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>      “My favourite constellation… well, not exactly a constellation but I won’t go deeper into technical subjects. My favourite constellation is the Summer Triangle. It’s also the last one I saw before entering the Abyss, so it’s really special for me. I was sad I couldn’t see the stars anymore, but I found a star here that I really like. Yes, yes, Rose, your mommy. She shone bright amongst the others, helped me when I was a complete stranger. And then, another star was born. Yes, your sister Angelica… or should I say Isht-? Ah, can’t, or she will be bonded to me. Sigh, I’m still not used to this demon naming conventions. At least your mother agreed for both of you to have a human and a demon name. You’re old enough to be given one, Rose, so, would you like papa to give you yours?... yes, mommy said yes. Hey, I’m the man here, you’re all supposed to respect me a little more, you know? I’ll get sad if you always trust more in mommy than in papa. Yes, I’ll give it to you once you let me explain everything. The Summer triangle has 3 stars. We could say your mommy is Deneb, your sister Angie is Vega, so you will be...”</span>
  </em>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“Altair…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Rose started crying a bit. She tried wiping the tears, so she could look more at the night sky.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No! Not now… why can’t I stop crying? Dammit, I want to see the stars… I want to see them…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      She cried for a good amount of time, only stopping after hearing some footsteps.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“W-who’s there?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      She closed her right eye, since her father told her humans didn’t like ‘weird things’. A tall slim guy about 25 years old stood there, with a backpack as big as hers, dressed in dirtied fancy clothes. His skin was grey as stone, his hair was whiter than snow and his eyes shone in a bright purple hue.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      He was the most beautiful person Rose had ever seen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t mean to hurt you. I merely heard someone crying, and went to check if everything was right.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“... are you a h-... who are you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My name is Liam Krowuds. Can I know your name?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alt-... Rose… Rose van Rot”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is your eye hurt, Miss van Rot?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Miss...? Ah, my eye… my eye is...eh… you can’t look at it!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      The drow approached her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Miss, I know you may not like me nor my race, but I’ve studied medicine and I’m perfectly able to treat it”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why wouldn’t I like you? You haven’t done anything to me. My eye just… was damaged a long time ago, it’s fine. You don’t need to worry”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I see, that’s unfortunate. Would you like me to give you an eyepatch to cover it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A what?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam started to search inside his bag. He had a lot of different clothes, some of them resembling more a costume than an actual outfit. He pulled out a simple leather patch and handed it to the girl.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“H… how do I put this on?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Allow me to help you”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      The boy got closer and put on the eyepatch, carefully. Rose’s heart skipped a beat. This boy was too gentle with her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Excuse my rudeness, Miss van Rot-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Rose! Just call me Rose”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Very well, Miss Rose…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just. Rose. Miss Rose sounds weird”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“U-understood… Rose. As I said, excuse my rudeness, but did you perhaps run away from your home?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah. In a way, you could say it”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You also carry some interesting weapons” Liam looked at the strange revolver she had strapped on her leg and the rapier she had on her belt. “May I know if you are able to fight?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes! I am! Why? OH! Are you an adventurer? Can I join you? Please? Pretty please? I’ve always wanted to be an adventurer!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I… am not an adventurer. I’m just a traveler, forgive me”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Soo… what do you do?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I travel around the world, researching things and trying to earn some money”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you fight monsters?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, sometimes”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you sleep in inns and have lunch in taverns?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, if I have enough money”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you help people?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If they let me help them, yes”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“...”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“... what?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You say you’re not an adventurer, but you do the things my father told me an adventurer does!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uhm, I suppose?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then I really want to travel with you! Can I? I promise I’ll behave!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You… really want to come with a person like me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rose nodded happily.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I suppose you can come with me… a traveling partner isn’t so bad afterall…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>  -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam chuckled, while adding another branch to the fire.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You really had no idea on what messes we would get ourselves into back then, right Rose?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey! Even if you are a necromancer and love dark magic and ‘evil stuff’, doesn’t mean you are evil! I haven’t regretted not even once my decision of traveling with you!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I had regretted it sometimes”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Rose angrily punched Liam in his arm.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuck you, I thought you liked me”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You are my traveling partner. I </span>
  <b>tolerate</b>
  <span> you”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re a dick sometimes”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam laughed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, at least now I know what I assume it’s your real name”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s not as if Rose was a fake name or anything”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, but isn’t the important name Alta-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Rose covered his mouth with her hands.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“DON’T!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“W-why?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Listen, I only told you because I trust you. But it’s important you never call me by that name”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why??”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know devils have a kink for deals and contracts or whatever, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wouldn’t say a </span>
  <em>
    <span>kink</span>
  </em>
  <span> but yes”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Demons devote themselves to only one person. For their entire life. The first person, who isn’t the person that gives them the name or the demon per se obviously, that calls them by their demon name. It’s like if I would be married to you if you say ‘Altair’”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Eh?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, not married, but it would be like your summons. Bonded for life to you. I would have to go near you always, I would need to obey direct commands with my demon name like ‘hey, Altair, bring me a cup of coffee’ and just… well, I don’t want you to accidentally have an unwanted summon”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, that would be a big problem, wouldn’t it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, big one!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>  -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam stared at his reflection in the pond. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe? No, that would be way too selfish. But it would work… no, no, no, she said it’s important to her… fuck…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam got his feet out of the pond, put on his socks and shoes and went back home. He opened the basement door and saw a small light. Emilie had fallen asleep in one of the tables, ink spilled in some notes and on her face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Look at the mess you’ve made. Tell me later I’m the one that should go to sleep, I dare you”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam summoned his Codex and passed the pages until he found the spell.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Reparo</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      The ink spilled started going back to the small flask, revealing the notes Emilie wrote. Liam took them without waking Emilie up. He started reading in low voice some parts.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Blah blah blah, signs of aetherial deficiency… restored mana by different means resulting in failure… possibility of body-mind-soul link broken… something something wait </span>
  <b>what</b>
  <span>? ‘The body and mind appear perfectly stable, but I’ve run some tests regarding the state of the soul and all indicated that apparently her soul wasn’t there or wasn’t stable at least. Several tests indicated multiple soul signals of Rose, which honestly doesn’t make any sense’. Oh fuck, fuck no. Please no”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam woke up Emilie and pointed at the notes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Emilie! Quick, wake the fuck up and tell me. What is this supposed to mean?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Eh? I… uwoaah… ran some tests… I calibrated the machines 5 times because the results were just… weird”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But did the machines detect multiple soul signals?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes! Which is too weird, I mean, it detected mine and like 100 different Roses”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam sat down.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not sure if this is something like she’s being charme-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Checked for Ifrit signals, it’s a big zero”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then her soul is fragmented. Which as you may or may not know it’s not good. It’s terrible”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Didn’t you merge once a soul together?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, but it was one of my fucking summonings. It was </span>
  <em>
    <span>easy</span>
  </em>
  <span>. This is Rose we’re talking about”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Couldn’t you do the same?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If what you wrote is true, we might need to restore the link first”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I once read that they repaired the link of a noble by bringing his friends and like… inviting the soul to come back so they could party again or something similar”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam stayed quiet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I-I know it sounds silly, Liam, sorry for even proposing such stupid idea… I’m just bothering you all as always”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Emilie… if I had a way of repairing the link </span>
  <b>and</b>
  <span> merging the soul at the same time, but it would require Rose to not be fully free… would you be mad at me for trying?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Eh?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I may have a way, but it’s basically well… complex to explain… and it basically leaves Rose at my control. I won’t try to enslave her will or anything, but it  just…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Emilie placed a had on his shoulder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know when it comes to any magical stuff that isn’t arcane or natural magic, I trust you. You know more than I do. And if someone would be angry about not being entirely free, I would say it would be Rose. I just want her back, and I know it’s selfish”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay, we’re all selfish here. Garnet probably thinks the same, even if she’s always so quiet”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, you need me to do anything?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes. Go to sleep, and I want you to prepare a nice breakfast for a welcoming party, if this works. Ask Garnet for help, and keep it for now between the four of us. I trust the rest, but I don’t want Rose to be overwhelmed when she wakes up. </span>
  <b>If</b>
  <span>, she wakes up”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay… see you in the morning. Don’t overwork yourself, okay?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know I’ll do it, Em. You’re one of the people that knows me most”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Geez, just sleep tomorrow night after everything is fine or I’ll make you”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam nodded. It would be a long night.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>  -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Emilie opened the door to her and Garnet’s bedroom. Garnet seemed to have woken up due to the noise.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry, Garnet. Tried doing the least noise as possible”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay, you know my hearing is more acute than the rest”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Emilie started undressing and putting on her pajamas.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, tomorrow can you help me bake a cake?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why did you decide to bake a cake so suddenly?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Liam is trying something that may make Rose wake up”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then, we shall prepare the bestest cake ever. Can’t wait for tomorrow and see her stuff her face with cake like a five years old child”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Emilie laughed while getting into the bed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I just hopes it works”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Me too, Em, me too. It’s been lonely without her and Liam bickering like an old couple”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know Liam would kill you if he heard that”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know, that’s why I would never tell him to the face. But he really is an idiot in love who doesn’t know he’s an idiot in love”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, he is”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Emilie closed her eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Goodnight Garnet”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Goodnight Emilie. Sleep well”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>  -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam took a deep breath. Everything was prepared. The magic circle was drawn in red paint mixed with his blood, the candles provided a faint light across the room. He was dressed in his usual dark battle attire, and he dressed Rose in a flowy white dress. He took Rose’s rapier in his hands, feeling the cold metal of the blade.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I really hope this works, otherwise I don’t know what I will do”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      He placed himself above Rose and got in one knee. He made a cut on his palm with the rapier, and raised the blade.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I, Liam Krowuds, on this moonless night, I call for you from the material plane, my bloody fate. I call for your soul, shadow of my feelings. Heed my call and come to me. Forge an eternal bond, until dea-... Forge an eternal bond, who not even Death can do us apart, oh star of the Abyss. Come to me, Altair”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam thrusted the rapier into Rose’s chest. The magic circle pulsed with an ominous glow before fading out, different types of blood were mixing together. Candles suddenly went out, leaving them in complete darkness.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Please, please, tell me it worked…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam whispered, voice trembling and crackling down.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“... what worked, Liam?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Rose's voice was harsh and weak. But it was definitely Rose’s voice. Liam quickly pulled the rapier off the girl's chest and hugged her tightly, crying loudly in relief.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“D-did I missed something? Liam? My head hurts a lot and I can barely remember what I did yesterday…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam could barely speak, only being able to say a few broken words.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m… I’m so relieved. You’re here. You’re finally here. I can’t believe you’re here, Altair”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <b>Eek!</b>
  <span> L-L-Liam… you…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry, I binded you to me, it was the only possible way I found to make you come back. You were gone for far too much time, I felt as if I was going mad. Please, don’t ever go away from my side. Please”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Rose pinched her cheek. No, it definitely hurt. This wasn’t a dream.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Am I dead? In heaven?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“WHAT? </span>
  <b>NO!</b>
  <span> Please don’t joke about that right now”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You… have a lot to explain to me…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll tell everything to you in time, but now I’ll try to be brief. You were used to powering a goliath, were in a coma and had lots of broken magical things so the only way of making you come back was to try to invoke you with your demonic name as if you were  a summon to make a pact with. So, technically, you’re now half one of my servants. Sorry. I promise I won’t order anything to you using the name Altair unless it’s for keeping you out of mortal danger”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Rose spent some time trying to process that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sooooo… Liam…… hmmm….. Can I officially call you Master?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam put a hand over Rose’s mouth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t make me regret so soon you waking up”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hehe…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t laugh. You should be mad I’ve limited your free will”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not mad. I’m bonded to the person I love the most, why would I be mad?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam had no words for it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Plus, that time long ago I stopped because I didn’t want you to accidentally bond. But if you wanted to do it, it’s fine”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But you said it was like marriage”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Closest to marriage, but as in ‘I will always be there for you whether I like it or not’. But hey, we’ve spent 6 years together and you’re the person I like and trust more. I’m glad it’s you and not a random person Angelica has said my demon name to just to fuck with me”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam rubbed his head. He wasn’t sure if this was a good or a bad outcome. But this would definitely bring him more than one headache.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let’s get you to bed, you look like you need to rest even if you spent more than a month sleeping”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Liam picked her bridal style, praying that his body would be able to reach the second floor without collapsing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes master!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I will fuckign drop you downstairs if you call me that one more time”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“O-okay… can I sleep with you in your dorm?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“... just for tonight and tonight only. I will spoil you a bit for having just woken up, but don’t expect me to treat you this nice always. You have your room”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Aye, aye!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>  -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Rose woke up the next morning in Liam’s bed, but he wasn’t nowhere to be seen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuck, you could have stayed with me for a bit… I guess indulgence time is over…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Rose saw some of her clothes perfectly folded in one of her chairs. On top of them was a small box and a folded piece of paper. She unfolded it and started reading it.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>      “I hope you see this when you wake up. Most of my summoned creatures have a small welcoming gift from me, and I thought you couldn’t be less. I hope you’ll like this small token of appreciation. I bought it some time ago for you and was waiting for an opportunity to give it to you. I know it might not be what you usually wear, but a girl should have elegant jewels from time to time, or at least that’s what my mother taught me”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>      Rose opened the little box carefully. Inside, there was a refined leather choker with an oval crimson ruby gem and silver ornaments. She tried it in front of the mirror, touching the little red gem. She blushed a dark shade of red.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You… really shouldn’t have… but I’ll thank you later…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Rose finished dressing up and headed downstairs, where her closest friends greeted her with a small welcoming party. They ate until they were full, and laugh and cry until they couldn’t do it anymore.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span> -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, what’s going to happen now that Rose is back on the game?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Zeus asked Liam. Liam thought for a bit, and then gave his answer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Goliaths are still a problem. The Anti-Goliath Alliance is no more, so people are defenseless against bigger threats. I still want to fight goliaths and study them. I will be honest with you. I will do it for the money, for researching, to become stronger and to protect the people I care about. But that doesn’t mean that the goals of the people that their villages are being attacked are opposite to mine. I will create a small independent group or mercenaries that will offer goliath-slaying services for money, goods or favours. Everyone here is either a good warrior or can be useful. If you want to fight at the orders of a selfish, cruel, severe and evil drow according to some people, let it be. I will treat you according to your actions and not what you are, where you were born or who you were. If you’re a lazy bastard, I will tell you. If you’re working hard for the team, I’ll praise you. I know us nine won’t do a lot now, if everyone is staying, but in time we’ll have more associated mercenaries by our side and will be able to take down stronger enemies. Everything said, who’s staying with me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Hands started to raise one by one. First Rose, then Emilie and Garnet. Camus raised his hand too.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Even if you were really severe with your team, you never looked at me with bad eyes. I’m in if you need a paladin or an artisan”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Zeus raised his hand too.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Camus can’t be left alone without supervision or he’ll blow your base up. I’ll act as leader engineering, same as when we were with the AGA”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You really don’t trust me, ha?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Zeus smiled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I just care about you not blowing up. Or getting in danger”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Aqua smiled and raised her hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’ll need a secretary and someone who can get information from enemies and manage the requests of aid”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Freya raised her hand too.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I go where Aqua goes. So either accept you’ll have a goliath in your group and on your side or fuck off”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Ryo was the last to raise his hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I… don’t want to be left out of the group… plus, I tolerate you all more than I tolerated the rest, so I wouldn’t mind that much joining you…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you, all”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>      That summer day, the group of the Dark Mercenaries was founded. May they live more adventures together.</span>
</p>
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